Testimony paints grisly scene in Chester murder case

MEDIA COURTHOUSE -- Testimony continued Tuesday in the trial of two Chester men accused of murdering their former roommate before dumping his body in an empty lot near the PPL Park soccer stadium.

Brian Anderson, 22, and Donier White, 21, both of the 1600 block of West Third Street, are each facing first- and third-degree murder charges for the April 20, 2011, beating death of 19-year-old Toby Gale Jr.

According to testimony given Monday before Judge Kevin F. Kelly, city worker David Roten discovered Gale's body in the lot on the 100 block of Central Avenue at about 11 a.m. on the morning of April 21.

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Chester Crime Scene Investigator Robert Weigand said Tuesday that a mold taken of a shoe print found at the scene was similar to the pattern on a pair of sneakers recovered from the West Third Street house White and Anderson shared, where Gale had briefly lived during the winter before his death.

Police officers also identified 19 blood splatters in the house, according to Weigand, and recovered black trash bags and duct tape similar to that used to wrap Gale's body.

Officers additionally took several items of clothing and cleaning supplies from the house, Weigand said, while a Dumpster some two blocks from the crime scene also yielded a hammer and sweatshirt.

Anderson allegedly told detectives he hit Gale on the head with a hammer while Gale was in the house, according to a release from the Delaware County District Attorney's office last year. White also allegedly confessed to helping Anderson dispose of the body.

A tire tread found at the scene was similar to the tread of a Chevrolet Impala belonging to White, according to Weigand, and the width between the tires on the Impala and the treads found at the scene were identical.

On cross-examination, Weigand said there was another tire track and two additional shoe prints at the scene of which police did not make molds.

Also testifying Tuesday was Gabriel Llinas, a forensic scientist with the Pennsylvania State Police who tested the seized items for blood.

According to Llinas, blood was found on the sneakers, the sweatshirt from the Dumpster, other clothing items from the house, a bucket and swabs of blood spatter from the residence taken by police.

Blood was also found on a pair of boots taken off White at the time of his arrest, Weigand said.

Llinas said he submitted the swabs, one of the boots and the sweatshirt from the Dumpster for DNA testing, along with swabs taken from both defendants and a blood sample taken from Gale's body.

Timothy Gavel, a forensic scientist with the Pennsylvania State Police DNA lab, said DNA recovered from the blood on the sneaker and Timberland matched Gale's DNA to within a statistical probability several times that of the Earth's population.

Blood taken from the baseboard of the dining room in the Third Street house was found to be a mixture of Gale's and Anderson's blood, he said.

The trial is expected to continue today. Assistant District Attorney Christopher DiRosato is prosecuting. Defense attorney Vincent Martini is representing White and Scott Galloway is counsel for Anderson.